MEDIEVAL CUISINE OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD
A concise history with 174 recipes
Lilia Zaouali, translated by M. B. De Bevoise, foreword by Charles Perry
Published by the University of California Press, H/B $44.95

Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic world is probably one of the most important food history books since Maguelonne Toussaint–Samat’s History of Food or Felipe Fernandez–Armesto’s food and whilst the text is utterly fascinating the recipes open a world of new flavours and textures waiting to be explored. Particularly interesting is the antiquity of the written recipe in the Arab world, which in many ways went to explain their modern obsession with food and cooking. At a time when cookbooks cover every cuisine on the planet, the recipes are exciting in the same way as John Edwards’ The Roman Cookery of Apicius or Dr Barbara Santich’s Original Mediterranean Cuisine were opening out an opportunity to try something a different.
The great difference is perhaps the advances start of the cuisine, and in fact the few modern recipes at the end of this lovely little volume are dull by comparison. The inquisitive cook will be rushing to their nearest Middle Eastern grocer so they can start cooking. An absolutely brilliant little book!

One of the best books of 2007.